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Star Trek: Discovery Delayed Until May 2017

“Star Trek: Discovery” will premiere later than expected. Originally set to release in “early 2017” — as soon as January — CBS has now announced that the latest Trek installment will premiere in May 2017. Filling “Star Trek Discovery’s” slot will be the spinoff of “The Good Wife,” set to debut in February.

According to Variety, “Star Trek: Discovery” was delayed to give the creative team “more time to meet expectations for the series, particularly with special effects.” Producers Bryan Fuller (“Hannibal”) and Alex Kurtzman (“Star Trek Into Darkness”) reportedly brought the issue to the network’s attention last week. The series will begin shooting this November in Toronto.

Kurtzman and Fuller said in a joint statement, “Bringing ‘Star Trek’ back to television carries a responsibility and mission: to connect fans and newcomers alike to the series that has fed our imaginations since childhood. We aim to dream big and deliver, and that means making sure the demands of physical and post-production for a show that takes place entirely in space, and the need to meet an air date, don’t result in compromised quality. Before heading into production, we evaluated these realities with our partners at CBS and they agreed: ‘Star Trek’ deserves the very best, and these extra few months will help us achieve a vision we can all be proud of.”

Commenting on the quality of the series, CBS TV Studios president David Stapf said, “The series template and episodic scripts that Alex and Bryan have delivered are incredibly vivid and compelling. They are building a new, very ambitious ‘Star Trek’ world for television, and everyone involved supports their vision for the best timing to bring to life what we all love on the page.”

“Star Trek: Discovery” will air its pilot in May on CBS, and release its subsequent episodes on the CBS All-Access streaming service. A membership with the service, including ads, runs $5.99 per month. An ad-free version will reportedly be offered for $9.99 per month.

The new Trek TV show is set to feature a female lead, referred to as “Number One,” who is currently being cast. The series will also include an openly gay actor as one of the male leads, a female admiral, a male Klingon captain, a male admiral, a male adviser and a British male doctor in its cast.

While you’ll have to wait until May to see “Star Trek: Discovery,” the latest feature film in the franchise, “Star Trek Beyond,” releases later this year on Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD.